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A DAY AT ECLISFONTAINE 85
ing position and from which one gets an excellent view of the
entire area in which the fight is raging. Here I see the General
in Command, von Mudra. Here also is the almost octogenairan
Field-marshal General Count von Haeseler, who, althuogh
he has no command, has not been able to resist his longing to
be near his old corps, as it fights for Germany’s honour and
rights. All day long the two generals stand in the middle of
the road, surrounded by several officers. On the fringe of
the road a powerful telescope has been mounted on its
tripod. A Captain is posted behind it and is closely observing
the position, and reporting when the telescope reveals any
changes in the situation. Now and again the Commander of
the Army Corps himself walks up to the telescope.
After I had been duly introduced to the Generals and had
chatted with them for a little while, I made the acquaintance
of the other officers, and had the situation and the object of
attack explained to me. The spot at which we were standing
was not entirely without danger. A soldier standing on the
road close to the telephone house was hit by a rifle bullet, but,
curiously enough, without being wounded. He was knocked
down by the impact or perhaps by the sudden surprise. The
bullet, which had come from a great distance, had obviously
spent itself. Another man was slightly wounded, likewise
by a rifle bullet. Three shrapnel shells exploded fairly close
to us, too high up to do any damage.
The day is long, and I find time to make numerous interesting
observations. The village of Eclisfontaine and the observation
station of the Generals are the terminal points of a line of about
a couple of hundred metres in length along which the officers
and I are moving. Here I had an opportunity of talking, now
to one, now to another, whilst at off moments I sat down in
the grass to make notes and observe the line of fire. From a
point near the village we had an excellent view towards
south-south-west in the direction of Varennes. On a stool
in the middle of the road sat the Chief of Division, Lieutenant-
General Count von Pfeil, fat and jolly looking. When the
last traces of the fog had disappeared, the dim, blue outlines
of the Argonne became discernible. Three kilometres away
in the direction of Varennes the ground rises to an extremely
bare ridge, behind which, out of sight of the French, a couple
of German field gun batteries are posted. We can see them
with the naked eye. Immediately to the left of tliis artillery
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